1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for storing a conversation upon a user's request in a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based messaging service.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a Session initiated protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE) Instant Messaging (IM) service, an IM user may request to store a session in a network storage unit. Such a user request may occur while the session is in progress. If the IM user requests storage of the session, an IM Controlling Function (CF) allows a server to participate in the IM session, and then the server stores media received through the IM session. In this manner, a function of storing a session upon a user's request is provided in the SIMPLE IM service.
Since a Converged-Internet Protocol (IP) Messaging (CPM) service supports a multimedia session capable of transmitting receiving different types of media through a single media session, a user should be able to request to store only particular media selected from the different types of media transmitted and received in the multimedia session. The CPM service provides primary service features for a variety of messaging services including a Short Messaging Service (SMS), a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and an Instant Messaging Service (IMS), in the form of a single service. The CPM service provides three different kinds of communication modes such as a pager mode, a large message mode, and a session mode, to deliver messages between users.
Among the three different kinds of services provided to users, the pager mode is a scheme suitable for delivering small-sized content, and in this scheme, messages are delivered through an SIP MESSAGE method. The large message mode is a scheme appropriate for delivering a large amount of content, and the large message mode establishes or sets up a one-way session by transmitting an SIP INVITE, and then ends the session when the content delivery is completed. Since only one content can be transmitted or delivered through one large message session, a predetermined number of large message sessions are needed to transmit the same number of contents. The session mode is a scheme for establishing an interactive session between users and then exchanging content through the established session. The established session ends only when certain conditions, for example, user's session end request and session expiration, are satisfied, enabling a conversational exchange of content between users.
As described above, the SIMPLE IM service provides a function for storing a session upon a user's request, but a method of storing messages transmitted/received in the pager mode and the large message mode has never been described in detail. Even though the SIMPLE IM service includes a function of storing messages upon a user's request in the session mode, the SIMPLE IM service does not include a function that allows a user to designate and store only a particular type of media among the media included in the session. Such a function may be considered unnecessary in the IM service, since IM services primarily use only text-type content in single-media sessions.
However, in the CPM service, for example, when two service users are performing a video call with each other through a multimedia session, either user may request to store both voice and video information, even when the user may wish to store only one of the voice information and the video information. If the data storage space in the network is insufficient for storing a large amount of both voice and video information, electing to store only the voice information, which is relatively smaller in data size than a combination of both voice and video information, could be beneficial in terms of the service use by the user.
In light of the increasing number of SIP-based services, it may be more convenient to provide services reflecting a user's intentions in storing media from an established session. Therefore, there is a need for a method capable of selectively storing a multimedia session or particular media included in the session in the session mode, as well as storing messages in the pager mode and the large message mode, upon a user's request.